When You Get that Sick Feeling
It starts when the phone rings notifying me that XXX is the home inspector on my listing or the appraisal has been assigned to XXX. The knot starts forming in the pit of my stomach. From past experiences I know the road is going to be rocky and there are going to be some huge hurdles to jump.
It's those past experiences that have conditioned me to expect the worst. What I thought was a solid sale is now in question and it's time to let the seller know there may be some hiccups in the process. I pass the news as gently as possible to not create great alarm but also to warn them to not start packing yet.
I start watching the calendar and speculate on the day the bad news will come in. I know this home inspector will make some outlandish statements that will rattle the buyer and question the integrity of the structure. I know it's going to be an unpleasant experience.
To make matters worse the appraiser is known for selecting the lowest comps in the market and never accepts my offer to provide comps or for me to suggest other choices. He digs his heals in and stands firm on his opinions. It isn't going to be pretty and will cause me to double my dosage of Tums to just get through this.
But Surprise...the home inspection comes in and there are only minor repairs and nothing to shake the sale out of contract. Maybe I judged too quickly or maybe the home inspector has changed his style. Either way I have circumvented a disaster.
Surprise again...the appraiser found the value and had no problem with the property. The underwriter signed off on it. It looks like there is going to be smooth sailing ahead.
Did I jump to conclusions or was I playing old tapes? Either way the sale is on the way to closing and I owe both of these guys an apology (in my head only).
Lesson learned...don't prejudge and get all worked up. Let each transaction stand on its own merit. Deal with it.
Here's a thought, the home inspector or appraiser may have gotten a knot in the pit of their stomachs knowing they had to deal with me. Now that is something I have never thought about.
Comments(33)